{
"format": "SugarCube",
"format-version": "2.36.1",
"start": "Main Menu",
"tags": ["Gold UI","Mobile","AthenianMystery","GameI","FinalRelease","RankFixed"]
}<<set $xp = 0>>
<<set $clues = 0>>
<<set $falseSteps = 0>>
<<set $unlockCode = "XXXXXX">>
<<set $badges = []>>
<<set $autoContinue = false>>
<<run setup = setup || {} >>
<<run window.NEXT = {
"Main Menu": "Prologue - The Agora",
"Prologue - The Agora": "Reading the Ground",
"Reading the Ground": "Choice - First Lead",
"Choice - First Lead": "Bystanders - Reading Tells",
"Bystanders - Reading Tells": "Clue - Laurel Stitch",
"Clue - Laurel Stitch": "Crowd Murmur",
"Crowd Murmur": "Archer's Report",
"Archer's Report": "Crosscheck - Resin",
"Crosscheck - Resin": "The Messenger",
"The Messenger": "To the Tholos",
"To the Tholos": "Tholos Scribe - Hall",
"Tholos Scribe - Hall": "Tholos Report",
"Tholos Report": "Report Delivered",
"Report Delivered": "Study Interval",
"Study Interval": "The Supper - Threshold",
"The Supper - Threshold": "Supper - Reading the Room",
"Supper - Reading the Room": "Verdict without Knife",
"Verdict without Knife": "End - Rank & Code"
}>>
<<run window.InterludesMap = {
"Main Menu": "A city that loves debate hides its verdicts in daylight.",
"Prologue - The Agora": "Begin with what speaks before words: blood, resin, tread, the courage to stand and watch.",
"Reading the Ground": "Ignore the prop. Follow the stitch. Pride stitches laurel where it thinks no one looks.",
"Choice - First Lead": "Three doors: pity, haste, or patience. Athens rewards only the last.",
"Bystanders - Reading Tells": "Hands confess before mouths agree to it; eyes confess last.",
"Clue - Laurel Stitch": "A heel signed with laurel—citizenship turned into costume.",
"Crowd Murmur": "Noise is a veil. Listen for the thread that pulls free when tugged.",
"Archer's Report": "Uniforms keep order; small errors keep truth. Take their measure.",
"Crosscheck - Resin": "Resin is the scribe of the grove. It remembers who leaned, who pressed, who waited.",
"The Messenger": "Paper runs faster than men; wax remembers the pressure of a name.",
"To the Tholos": "Where the city tongues its paperwork, certainty pretends to be neutral.",
"Tholos Scribe - Hall": "Authority sounds like a conclusion spoken as a premise.",
"Tholos Report": "Imitation blurs at the edges; true seals cut clean.",
"Report Delivered": "When a room asks for silence, it has already heard the answer.",
"Study Interval": "Between pillars, let the mind breathe; patterns settle when not chased.",
"The Supper - Threshold": "Seats are arguments. A guest can be placed where a verdict already sits.",
"Supper - Reading the Room": "Laughter on the wrong beat is a confession in good shoes.",
"Verdict without Knife": "Name the leaf and move the city without lifting a blade.",
"End - Rank & Code": "You walked the market without spectacle and returned with a name."
}>>
<<run setup.log = function(txt){
try{ var v=S(), now=new Date().toLocaleTimeString(); v.storyLog=(v.storyLog||'')+'<div>['+now+'] '+txt+'</div>'; }catch(e){} }>><div class="parchment">
<p class="menu-blurb"><em>When the famous general Aristides is accused of murder, you must unravel the plot — and prove your loyalty to justice.</em></p>
<h2 style="margin:0 0 6px 0;">The Athenian Mystery · Trial of Truth — Game I</h2>
<div style="opacity:.9;margin-bottom:8px;">Laurel and the Blade · Game I</div>
<p class="intro"><em>Athens, 448 BCE.</em> A dead man in the Agora, a clean blade laid too neatly, and a sandal-print stitched with laurel. You read the market like a page—resin, wax, and watching eyes—until the city speaks without drawing a knife.</p>
<div class="choice-row">
[[Start|Prologue - The Agora]]
[[How to Play|How to Play]]
[[About|About]]
[[Amazon Books|Amazon - Books]]
[[Credits|Credits]]
</div>
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</div><div class="parchment">
<p><strong>Produced by:</strong> KPFTV Editions · Game Division</p>
<p><img src="https://kpftveditions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/kpftv-logo.png" alt="KPFTV" style="height:36px;border-radius:6px;border:1px solid rgba(215,180,106,.25)"></p>
[[Back|Main Menu]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<h3>About this Game</h3>
<p>This browser game adapts the short story <em>Laurel and the Blade</em> from the Athenian Mystery cycle by Adrian Kerr. It is the first of four games (Trial of Truth — Games I–IV). Rank does not change during Game I; you receive your Rank 1 code only on completion.</p>
<p>Controls: Use edge arrows or keyboard ← / →. Settings (top-left) adjust typography and opacity. Ambience (bottom-center) toggles environmental audio. Plot Log (top-right) opens a scrollable story log.</p>
[[Back|Main Menu]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<h3>Continue Reading — Read free on Kindle Unlimited</h3>
<div class="book-grid">
<a class="card" target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Agora-Athenian-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B0FPGSBGDZ/">
<img src="https://kpftveditions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/911whJHThL._SL1500_.jpg" alt="Murder in the Agora cover">
<div><strong>Murder in the Agora</strong><br><small>Kindle · Kindle Unlimited · Paperback · Hardcover</small></div>
</a>
<a class="card" target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Acropolis-Athenian-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B0FPMH57YL/">
<img src="https://kpftveditions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/81i-jxrwRL._SL1500_.jpg" alt="The Shadows of the Acropolis cover">
<div><strong>The Shadows of the Acropolis</strong><br><small>Kindle · Kindle Unlimited · Paperback · Hardcover</small></div>
</a>
<a class="card" target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Symposium-Athenian-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B0FWYDFBDV/">
<img src="https://kpftveditions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Blood_at_the_Symposium_1600x2560.jpg" alt="Blood at the Symposium cover">
<div><strong>Blood at the Symposium</strong><br><small>Kindle · Kindle Unlimited · Paperback · Hardcover</small></div>
</a>
<div class="card">
<img src="https://kpftveditions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Oracles-curse.jpg" alt="The Oracle’s Curse cover">
<div><strong>The Oracle’s Curse</strong><br><small>Coming soon · Kindle</small></div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Join the investigation, then step into the books—free with Kindle Unlimited.</p>
[[Back|Main Menu]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p><em>I smelled olives and iron before I saw the blood.</em> The Agora woke the way a city confesses—gradually, with excuses. Hammer to anvil, seller to buyer, rumor to ear. A bronze dagger lay beside the dead man’s hand, placed like a line break. Too clean. The wound was not.</p>
<p>The ground was louder than the men. Laurel stitch on a sandal-print, turned slightly inward, the way the proud stand when they want to look casual. A thin ribbon of resin had kissed the dust; the sun had not yet burned it dry. Whoever watched the dying kept his knees steady and his story ready.</p>
<p>Archers tried to own the space with staffs held high. Order is a costume; truth fits closer. The blade wanted my attention. The stitch deserved it. Athens writes itself in public, but edits in private. If there is a verdict here, it is hiding as a fashion detail.</p>
[[Continue|Reading the Ground]]
</div><p class="choice-intro"><em>Choose your first lead carefully — body, ground, or the watchers.</em></p>
<div class="parchment">
<p>The crowd pretended not to be a crowd. Four men argued about grain weights within hearing distance of a corpse. A pair of archers kept their staffs high, as if height granted them more truth than proximity.</p>
<p>The dust remembered: crushed leaf, oil sheen, the heel weight of someone who meant to watch rather than flee. The market made a grammar of footprints; pride put its own accent on the sand.</p>
[[Inspect the body|Choice - First Lead]] [[Scan the ground|Choice - First Lead]] [[Watch the watchers|Bystanders - Reading Tells]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>The man who watches a dying man is either a priest, a thief, or a student of both. Callus-free hands, a good belt, sandals stitched for admiration.</p>
<<set $xp += 4>><<set $clues += 1>>
[[Return to the print|Choice - First Lead]]
</div><p class="choice-intro"><em>Commit to a thread — the city rewards patience, not haste.</em></p>
<div class="parchment">
<p>The first choice is not where to look, but what to discard. The blade is theater. The stitch is authorship.</p>
[[Examine the laurel stitch|Clue - Laurel Stitch]] [[Interview bystanders|Crowd Murmur]] [[Signal the archers|Archer's Report]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>Laurel stitch is pride sewn into leather. Not a servant’s sandal. Someone of means, or someone who wanted to be read that way. The thread carries resin—fresh enough to scold the air.</p>
<<set $clues += 1>>
[[Listen to the market|Crowd Murmur]] [[Check archers|Archer's Report]] [[Re-check ground|Choice - First Lead]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>Names travel faster than wind. A hawker swore he saw a man watching, not fleeing. Watching is a luxury few can afford in Athens—it takes time, and time marks you as paid.</p>
[[Ask the archers|Archer's Report]] [[Look for resin|Crosscheck - Resin]] [[Send a runner|The Messenger]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>“We keep the order,” the archer said, which is not the same as keeping the truth. His sleeve wore a kiss of resin, too fine to belong to his bowstring. He didn’t notice when I noticed.</p>
<<set $clues += 1>>
[[Crosscheck the resin|Crosscheck - Resin]] [[Question his partner|Crosscheck - Resin]] [[Dispatch a report|The Messenger]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>Resin on cloth, laurel on leather, a clean blade near a filthy wound: three beats of the same performance. Pride rehearses what guilt improvises.</p>
<<set $xp += 8>>
[[Send a messenger|The Messenger]] [[Double-check the sealers|To the Tholos]] [[Question a scribe|To the Tholos]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>Take the report to the Tholos. If the city will pretend to be a single mind, let it read a single page. I sent a boy with a good stride and better silence.</p>
[[Go with the archers to the Tholos|To the Tholos]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>The Tholos holds the day’s decisions like a hand cupped over a flame. You give it air or you suffocate it. We gave it air, and a page.</p>
[[Wait in the scribe hall|Tholos Scribe - Hall]] [[Inspect seals on the wall|Tholos Scribe - Hall]] [[Ask for the clerk of seals|Tholos Scribe - Hall]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>The hall smelled of warmed wax and reheated certainty. Scribes slid between benches, their seals hanging like small verdicts. Ours returned too quickly, breath shallow, seal thin.</p>
[[Read the seal|Tholos Report]] [[Compare with guild sample|Tholos Report]] [[Question the boy|Tholos Report]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>Wax remembers pressure. So does the man who pressed it. The circle bit unevenly at the laurel points—an imitation of a guild seal. A clerk in love with the appearance of authority.</p>
<<set $clues += 1>>
<<if $badges.indexOf("Bronze · Observation") == -1>>
<<set $badges.push("Bronze · Observation")>>
<blockquote><strong>Badge:</strong> Bronze · Observation — You read what others skimmed.</blockquote>
<</if>>
[[Deliver findings|Report Delivered]] [[Quietly mark the seal|Report Delivered]] [[Speak to the archers|Report Delivered]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>“You have the city’s ear,” the clerk said, which in Athens means you have its suspicion. I asked him to keep the page. He asked me to keep quiet. We both failed.</p>
<<set $xp += 10>>
[[Study interval|Study Interval]] [[Walk the Stoa|Study Interval]] [[Revisit the market|Study Interval]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>Between pillars, a thought can stand up. The resin on cloth, the clean blade, the laurel stitch: theater and pride. The man who watched the dying valued being seen more than being safe.</p>
[[To supper|The Supper - Threshold]] [[Re-check Tholos|The Supper - Threshold]] [[Send a note|The Supper - Threshold]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>Read a room like a page. Pride stains brighter than wine. Laurel at a supper is either flattery or confession. The host wore none. A guest did.</p>
[[Observe the company|Supper - Reading the Room]] [[Watch the servants|Supper - Reading the Room]] [[Circle the periphery|Supper - Reading the Room]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>The man with laurel stitching laughed at the wrong times—when the story needed air, not applause. His sleeve had the gentlest bruise of resin. His hands were smooth enough to make tools nervous.</p>
<<set $xp += 24>>
<<if $badges.indexOf("Silver · Pattern") == -1>>
<<set $badges.push("Silver · Pattern")>>
<blockquote><strong>Badge:</strong> Silver · Pattern — You connected stitch, seal, and sleeve.</blockquote>
<</if>>
[[Verdict|Verdict without Knife]] [[Let the host speak|Verdict without Knife]] [[Have the archers wait outside|Verdict without Knife]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>“The city turns by a single leaf correctly named.” We named it. Justice prefers tools that do not show blood. The archers took him quietly; the crowd applauded something else nearby and called it civic virtue.</p>
<<set $xp += 26>>
<<if $badges.indexOf("Gold · Quiet Verdict") == -1>>
<<set $badges.push("Gold · Quiet Verdict")>>
<blockquote><strong>Badge:</strong> Gold · Quiet Verdict — The cleanest blade is a spoken name.</blockquote>
<</if>>
[[End|End - Rank & Code]]
</div><<set $unlockCode = (function(){
var chars = 'ABCDEFGHJKLMNPQRSTUVWXYZ23456789';
var out = '';
for (var i=0;i<6;i++){ out += chars.charAt(Math.floor(Math.random()*chars.length)); }
return out;
})()>>
<div class="parchment">
<<if $falseSteps >= 3>><h3>Trial Incomplete</h3>
<<if $falseSteps >= 3>>
<p>Your judgment was in error. Too many false steps clouded the verdict.</p>
<p>You may begin again — truth is patient.</p>
<<else>>
<</if>><<else>><h3>Trial Complete</h3><</if>>
<p>You have reached <strong>Rank 1 · Akolouthos</strong>.</p>
<p><strong>XP:</strong> <<print $xp>> · <strong>Clues:</strong> <<print $clues>> · <strong>False Steps:</strong> <<print $falseSteps>></p>
<<set $asinOK = $asinOK or false>>
<div class="end-amz">
<a class="card" target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Agora-Athenian-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B0FPGSBGDZ/">
<img src="https://kpftveditions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/911whJHThL._SL1500_.jpg" alt="Murder in the Agora">
<div><strong>Murder in the Agora</strong><br><small>Kindle · Kindle Unlimited</small></div>
<div class="ku-box">
<h4>Read free on Kindle Unlimited</h4>
<p>All Athenian Mystery novels are available to read for free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription.</p>
<a class="ku-btn" target="_blank"
href="https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Agora-Athenian-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B0FPGSBGDZ/">
📖 Start Reading Now
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<img src="https://kpftveditions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/81i-jxrwRL._SL1500_.jpg" alt="The Shadows of the Acropolis">
<div><strong>The Shadows of the Acropolis</strong><br><small>Kindle · Kindle Unlimited</small></div>
</a>
<a class="card" target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Symposium-Athenian-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B0FWYDFBDV/">
<img src="https://kpftveditions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Blood_at_the_Symposium_1600x2560.jpg" alt="Blood at the Symposium">
<div><strong>Blood at the Symposium</strong><br><small>Kindle · Kindle Unlimited</small></div>
</a>
</div>
<<if $falseSteps < 3>>
<div class="asin-gate">
<p><strong> <p><strong>Badges:</strong> <<print $badges.join(', ')>></p>
<<if $falseSteps < 3>>
<<else>>
<p><em>Your verdict was clouded. No unlock code is granted.</em></p>
<</if>>
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<strong>Join the Circle:</strong> [[Circle of Logoi →|https://kpftveditions.com/circle-of-logoi/?utm_source=game1&utm_medium=endcard&utm_campaign=athenian_mystery]]
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<div style="margin-top:12px;display:flex;gap:10px;flex-wrap:wrap;">
<<if $falseSteps >= 3>>[[Begin Again|Main Menu]]<<else>>[[Back to Main Menu|Main Menu]]<</if>>
[[Amazon Books|Amazon - Books]]
</div>
</div>
<<script>>
(function(){
function openX(){
try {
var txt = window.Athens.shareTextX();
var u = "https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=" + encodeURIComponent(txt);
window.open(u, "_blank");
} catch(e){ alert("Could not open X: " + e); }
}
function openFB(){
try {
var txt = window.Athens.shareTextX();
// Facebook sharer with prefilled quote; image must be attached manually by user
var u = "https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=" + encodeURIComponent("https://kpftveditions.com/") + ""e=" + encodeURIComponent(txt);
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}
function byId(id){ return document.getElementById(id); }
var el;
el = byId("postX"); if(el){ el.addEventListener("click", openX); }
el = byId("postFB"); if(el){ el.addEventListener("click", openFB); }
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}catch(e){ alert("Share card failed: " + e); } }); }
el = byId("btnUnlockCard"); if(el){ el.addEventListener("click", function(){ try{
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var img = document.getElementById("unlockcard"); if(img){ img.src = u; img.style.display = "block"; }
}catch(e){ alert("Unlock card failed: " + e); } }); }
}());
<</script>>
----
**Your Unlock Code for Game II:** `EIKUI2`
<</if>>
</div><div class="parchment">
<h3>How to Play</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>Goal:</strong> Read the city. Gather <em>clues</em>, avoid <em>false steps</em>, reach a clean verdict.</li>
<li><strong>Navigation:</strong> Use the right edge or → to go forward; left edge or ← to go back.</li>
<li><strong>Settings:</strong> Top-left gear — change font size, line height, panel opacity; Save/Continue.</li>
<li><strong>Ambience:</strong> Bottom-center icon — tap once to allow audio, then toggle on/off.</li>
<li><strong>Rank:</strong> Fixed in Game I. On completion you gain <em>Rank 1 · Akolouthos</em> and a 6‑char code for Game II.</li>
<li><strong>Time:</strong> About 25–30 minutes. Your <em>Story Log</em> (top-right) tracks key beats.</li>
</ul>
[[Back|Main Menu]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<h3>Continue Reading on Amazon (Kindle · Kindle Unlimited)</h3>
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style="display:flex;gap:8px;align-items:center;padding:8px;border:1px solid rgba(215,180,106,.28);border-radius:10px;min-width:240px;">
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<div><strong>Murder in the Agora</strong><br><small>Kindle · Kindle Unlimited</small></div>
</a>
<a class="card" target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Shadows-Acropolis-Athenian-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B0FPMH57YL/"
style="display:flex;gap:8px;align-items:center;padding:8px;border:1px solid rgba(215,180,106,.28);border-radius:10px;min-width:240px;">
<img src="https://kpftveditions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/81i-jxrwRL._SL1500_.jpg" alt="The Shadows of the Acropolis" style="height:64px;width:auto;border-radius:6px;">
<div><strong>The Shadows of the Acropolis</strong><br><small>Kindle · Kindle Unlimited</small></div>
</a>
<a class="card" target="_blank" href="https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Symposium-Athenian-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B0FWYDFBDV/"
style="display:flex;gap:8px;align-items:center;padding:8px;border:1px solid rgba(215,180,106,.28);border-radius:10px;min-width:240px;">
<img src="https://kpftveditions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Blood_at_the_Symposium_1600x2560.jpg" alt="Blood at the Symposium" style="height:64px;width:auto;border-radius:6px;">
<div><strong>Blood at the Symposium</strong><br><small>Kindle · Kindle Unlimited</small></div>
</a>
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<div><strong>The Oracle’s Curse</strong><br><small>Coming soon · Kindle</small></div>
</div>
</div>
[[Back|Main Menu]]
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>You read the thread too quickly. Pride and haste share a voice, and you listened to both.</p>
<<set $falseSteps += 1>>
<p>The market looks past you. The clue dulls.</p>
<div class="choice-row">
[[Reconsider|Reading the Ground]]
[[Step aside and watch|Study Interval]]
</div>
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>Your words echo against marble. The wrong name tastes of iron.</p>
<<set $falseSteps += 2>>
<p>Silence stretches; the room records the error.</p>
<div class="choice-row">
[[Withdraw quietly|Study Interval]]
[[Return to the Agora|Prologue - The Agora]]
</div>
</div><div class="parchment">
<p>Your attention drifts and the city rearranges itself. The pattern you held a moment ago goes slack.</p>
<<set $falseSteps += 1>>
<p>Begin again, slower.</p>
<div class="choice-row">
[[Start over at the scene|Reading the Ground]]
[[Walk the pillars|Study Interval]]
</div>
</div>